Protestors gather at Emanuel's home to protest CPS plans

Noreen Ahmed-UllahTribune reporter

With two days left before the Chicago Board of Education votes to close or restructure failing schools, community groups staged a candlelight vigil protesting the dramatic measures and marched to Mayor Rahm Emanuel's home on the North Side.

The several hundred protesters who gathered at Lakeview High School, 4015 N. Ashland Ave., targeted the mayor's home to make the point that Emanuel decided to close and replace staff at schools without visiting the schools first or talking to parents.

CPS is planning 10 restructurings, known as "turnarounds," and seven closings this year. Officials with the Chicago Teachers Union were at the protest, as were members of Action Now, Albany Park Neighborhood Council, Blocks Together, Kenwood Oakland Community Organization and the Logan Square Neighborhood Association.

Their signs read "Brizard needs a time out," refering to CPS CEO Jean-Claude Brizard, and "CPS needs to be turned around." Some wore stickers saying "excluded" and "silenced."

"CPS school closings is the status quo," said Jitu Brown, education organizer for the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization. He added that of all the schools closed over the years and replaced with new schools, today only 18 percent are high-performing and half of those have competitive admissions requirements.

Another community organizer said the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL), a turnaround operator expected to be given control of six schools this year, does not have bilingual programs while Casals Elementary, one of the schools proposed for takeover by AUSL, has a high percentage of Hispanic students.

Parents against Emanuel's proposal for a 7.5-hour school day participated in the protest.

CPS officials were at the protest handing out press releases that responded to the complaints.

With the headline "CPS statement on CTU rally" implying the rally had been staged by the teachers union, spokeswoman Becky Carroll said in the statement: "CPS is breaking away from a status quo that has failed our students year after year. What has been tried in the past has not worked and going back to the same failed policies is not in the best interest of our students."